Neko to Inoshishi
by SeraphAngel
Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who has always wanted him, Kagura. [Set in the anime]
1. Something Different

Author's Note: Okay, so this one's kinda funky… I've never written anime fanfics before, so don't throw anything at me… And, uh… I've only watched the anime for _Fruits Basket_—episodes 1-13 in a language I could understand, and episodes 14-26 in a language I didn't understand… I haven't read the manga. I don't know exact stuff past episode 13, so you'll have to disregard anything in the storyline that contradicts my story. For now. I wouldn't want you to forget _everything_… One more thing, I'm not Japanese, so if there's anything wrong with whatever I try to say, I'm really sorry…

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who has always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

!!! = setting change

_italics _= emphasis

_italics_ = thoughts

-Something Different-

"Kyo-kun!"

Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru were walking home. They had just finished shopping (Kyo was making sure that Tohru didn't buy too many vegetables) when they heard the cry.

Kyo looked around, panicked. That voice could only belong to—

"Kagura-san!" Tohru said happily, waving at the older girl.

Kyo spotted Kagura and tried to figure out what to do. If he ran, she would chase him in her angry mode. If he stayed, she would try to hug him.

Too late. She was already standing in front of him, smiling widely.

Yuki stood there with an amused look on his face as Kagura hugged Kyo, who tensed up immediately. Tohru was next to him, smiling, as always. Yuki glanced at her and blushed.

Meanwhile, Kyo was trying to separate himself from the crazy girl with her arms around his neck. "Kagura," he said, gasping for breath, "you're—choking—me."

Kagura released him immediately. "I'm sorry! Are you all right, Kyo-kun?" she said frantically, checking him for injuries.

Kyo put his hands on his knees as he drew some air into his lungs. He relaxed slightly, now that he could breathe. Then he got back up and looked at Kagura. Well, at least she hadn't changed into her other self. Not yet, anyway.

Tohru piped up cheerily, "Kagura-san, do you want to walk with us?"

Kyo sighed and hung his head. Tohru was too nice to people. Now he would have to endure more time with Kagura.

Kagura's face brightened. "Oh, thank you! Of course I will!" She grabbed Kyo's right arm and started pulling him in the direction of Shigure's house.

Since Kyo and Kagura were ahead of him and Tohru at the moment, Yuki took the opportunity to talk to Tohru. "Honda-san, do you want me to carry the groceries for you?"

"No, Yuki-kun. I'm fine," Tohru replied.

Yuki nodded. At a loss for words, he looked forward and just kept walking.

Kyo looked down at the girl attached to his arm. Kagura was babbling about something or other. _My arm's going to fall off, _Kyo thought. _Why does she always have to hold onto me so tightly?_

"And I'm trying really hard to stop beating you up when I see you, Kyo-kun!"

"Eh?" Kyo replied. _Well, at least she's trying._

When they got back home, Shigure was there to greet them. But before he could even say hello, Kagura pulled him into another room.

Tohru blinked. "I wonder what that was about."

Yuki replied, "Don't worry about it, Honda-san. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

Kyo was rubbing his arm, trying to get some feeling back in it. _Why can't Kagura be more like her? _he thought, glancing at Tohru, who was heading towards the kitchen. She_ doesn't get clingy and almost kill people when she's excited. _

Shigure came into the room with a big smile on his face. Kagura was right behind him, grinning as well. Shigure said in a singsong voice, "Kyon-kyon, Kagura has something to tell you…"

Kyo had a suspicious look on his face. "What is it?"

Kagura answered, "Guess what, Kyo-kun! I'm going to live here now!"

A look of horror crept onto the orange-haired boy's face. "What?!" he screeched.

"Akito-san said I could live here in Shii-chan's house!"

Tohru came in then, having overheard the last part of the conversation. "Really, Kagura-san? That means we can be roommates!" she said, clearly very happy about the idea.

Kyo, on the other hand, was not happy about it at all. He ran out of the house as fast as he could.

Yuki had gone off into another room and was laughing uncontrollably. _The cat chases the mouse, but now someone's chasing the cat, and it isn't the dog! _He tried to make sense of his strange thought, but gave up and just kept laughing at the humor in the situation. Kyo's worst nightmare—Kagura coming to live with him.

Shigure smiled as Kagura and Tohru excitedly discussed their new living arrangements. This would be interesting. _Very_ interesting. _It's time there was some entertainment around here, _he thought.

Apparently, Shigure had already known about Kagura's moving into his house, because her luggage was already there. He, Tohru, and Kagura went up to Tohru's room to get Kagura settled in.

Yuki finally stopped laughing. His stomach hurt a little, but he didn't mind.

Kagura bounded down the stairs. "Yun-chan, did Kyo-kun come back yet?"

Yuki shook his head.

Kagura went outside, yelling "Kyo-kun!" every once in a while.

Tohru and Shigure came downstairs. Tohru went into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. Shigure sat down, eagerly awaiting his meal.

Yuki seated himself as well, since he had nothing else to do.

A few minutes later, the food was on the table, Tohru was seated, and Kagura and Kyo were nowhere to be found. Tohru looked at the two meals she had prepared for them. "Where are they? The food's getting cold. Kyo-kun will be very disappointed to find out that he missed out on fish."

At that moment, Kagura ran back inside. "Shii-chan, do you have a ladder?" When Shigure nodded and pointed out where the ladder was, Kagura quickly fetched it and went back outside. She didn't even give Tohru a chance to tell her that her food was getting cold.

Kyo was lying on the roof, staring at the sky, which was becoming dark. _How come this has to be the one time Akito decides to let someone have their way? _He heard a noise and glanced at the edge of the roof. A ladder. _Must be Tohru, _he thought.

A head of brown hair popped up over the edge of the roof, and Kyo saw that it wasn't Tohru after all. "Kagura?"

"Kyo-kun! I found you!" Kagura said, smiling. She gestured for Kyo to get off the roof. "Your food's going to get cold. I smelled fish when I went inside! Do you want to use the ladder?"

Kyo didn't reply. _I might as well go, _he thought. _I _am _hungry, and Tohru finally prepared fish instead of vegetables. _He jumped off the roof and landed on all fours. He quickly brushed himself off and went into the house.

Kagura smiled as she climbed down the ladder. "Kyo-kun is so brave and strong," she said to herself.

!!!

It was past midnight. Kagura was wide-awake, staring at the ceiling. She was lying on a sleeping pallet on Tohru's bedroom floor. She hadn't gotten a bed yet, but it didn't really matter to her.

Kagura wasn't sure why she was unable to sleep. She rolled onto her side. She rolled to the other side. She lay flat on her back. No matter what position she was in, she just couldn't fall asleep. _I know_, she thought. _I'll go to Kyo-kun. He'll know what to do. _

She got up quietly, careful not to wake Tohru. The younger girl had to take care of Kagura's relatives, which was not easy work. Kagura didn't want to disturb her. She went out of the room and peeked into Kyo's bedroom.

She moved silently toward the bed, closing the door on her way in. Kyo was lying on his left side, so Kagura kneeled right next to the bed, facing him. Oops. She had forgotten that he would be asleep, even if she wasn't. Oh, well. It didn't matter. She was content just to watch Kyo as he slept.

Kagura sighed softly. Kyo looked so cute when he was sleeping. He didn't look angry, like he often did when he was awake. He wasn't as beautiful as Yuki was, but he was handsome in his own way. And when he was in his animal form, he was just about the cutest cat Kagura had ever seen.

It was dark in the room, but there was still some light. Kagura reached up and lightly touched Kyo's distinctive orange hair. It was really soft. She must have ruffled his hair more than she thought she had, for Kyo opened his eyes then.

"Kagura?" Kyo said. He looked very sleepy and unfocused.

Kagura pulled her hand away from him.

"Kagura, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep." Kagura bit her lip. "Can I—can I stay here?"

Kyo nodded slightly as he closed his eyes.

Kagura's eyes widened. He had said yes! Well, he hadn't actually _said_ it, but close enough. Kagura went around to the other side of the bed and got in (AN: Don't even start with me, you sickos out there. There's nothing going on!), careful not to disturb Kyo, who had fallen asleep again. She snuggled up close to Kyo's warm body and closed her eyes. She was starting to feel sleepy now. _I knew coming to Kyo-kun would help_, she thought, as visions of a certain orange neko filled her head.

!!!

It was morning. Kyo, being an early riser, was the first person in the house to wake up. He opened his eyes, rolled onto his right side, and promptly jumped out of bed. _What the—?_ "Kagura?!" The same thing had happened before with Ayame. He hadn't been very happy about it then, and he wasn't happy about it now.

Kagura, who had been sleeping soundly, opened her eyes and sat up in Kyo's bed.

"What are you doing in my bed?" Kyo asked, confusion etched on his face. He was standing a few feet away from the bed, clad in his semi-pajamas.

Kagura tilted her head to the side. "You—you said I could stay here."

"When did I say that?" he demanded.

"Last night. Don't you remember, Kyo-kun?"

Kyo shook his head.

"Well, I came in and said that I couldn't sleep—"

!!!

Meanwhile, Tohru had awakened in her own room. She got up, got dressed, then glanced at Kagura's bedding. She was about to open the door when she paused and turned around to look at Kagura's sleeping pallet again. Kagura was missing!

"Kagura-san!" she shouted. She ran downstairs and looked for her new roommate there. She was making so much noise that she woke Shigure, who came out to see what the commotion was about.

"Tohru-kun, why are you making so much noise?"

"I can't find Kagura-san! She wasn't there when I woke up, and I usually wake up before everyone else!" Tohru replied, clearly upset about Kagura's disappearance.

Shigure tried to calm her down. "I'm sure we'll find her."

"But what if she went outside and fell on someone and accidentally changed into a boar?" Tohru said, freaking out. "Then someone else would know the secret and they might try to hurt her and all of you and—"

Shigure sighed. He motioned for Tohru to follow him. "Let's go check upstairs again. Besides, the most likely place for Kagura to be would be around Kyo-kun. Let's see if he's seen her."

Tohru nodded and zoomed up the stairs.

!!!

"And it was cold, so I just got under the covers," Kagura explained.

Kyo opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again when he heard the door open.

"Kagura-san!"

Both Kyo and Kagura stared at Shigure and Tohru, who were standing just outside the room, staring right back at them.

Shigure got an impish look on his face. "Kyo-kun, why is there a girl in your bed?" he asked innocently.

The orange-haired boy's face became hot. "It's not what you think!" he yelled angrily.

"Then what is it?"

"I—I—" Kyo was at a loss for words.

"Shii-chan, you have such a dirty mind," Kagura said, getting out of Kyo's bed.

Shigure shrugged. Tohru spoke up. "Well, why are you here instead of in my room, Kagura-san?"

"I couldn't sleep." She padded over to Tohru. "I'm sorry if I made you worry, Tohru-kun."

"Oh, that's okay," Tohru said, cheerful as ever. "I just didn't know where you were." She gasped, quickly turned around, and headed down the stairs. "I forgot! I was supposed to make breakfast!"

Shigure perked up at the word "breakfast". He followed Tohru down the stairs, bumping into Yuki, who had missed the events that had just taken place.

Yuki asked him, "What happened? I heard the baka neko yelling, so I woke up."

Shigure grinned. "Kagura was in his bed when he woke up this morning." He walked away, leaving behind one very confused cousin.

!!!

"Kyo-kun," Kagura began.

"Leave me alone!"

"But I—"

"Go away!" Kyo turned his back on her.

Kagura's eyes filled with tears. She fled to Tohru's room without another word. When she got there, she plopped down onto Tohru's bed. She whispered pitifully to herself, "I just wanted to say good morning."

!!!

Kyo got dressed and went downstairs. He spotted Yuki next to the table. "Hey, kuso nezumi! Ready to be beaten?" (AN: Cue battle music!)

Yuki turned to face him. "I could ask you the same, baka neko."

Kyo flushed in anger and started attacking Yuki. Kick. _Why does she have to be obsessed with me? _Block. _What's the matter with her? _Punch. _Sneaking into my room in the middle of the night… _Kick. _Why can't she just accept that I don't want to marry her? _Punch. _She's so weird. _Strike. _And why does the one person who feels so strongly about me have to be her? Why can't it be someone else? _Kick. _Someone like_—

With one last strike from Yuki, the battle ended. Kyo was defeated yet again. Yuki stood up straight and brushed himself off. "You lost again, neko. I will admit, however, that you did better today than you have in the past."

Kyo raised his eyebrows at the semi-compliment. Tohru, who had come back into the room with breakfast, was very pleased to hear what Yuki had said to Kyo. "Yuki-kun, that was very kind of you to say."

Yuki almost blushed.

Kyo replayed the fight in his head as he ate. Come to think of it, he _had _felt more focused today. Strange. Well, things had been weird from the moment he woke up.

Tohru kept looking around between bites. Finally, she voiced the thought that had been on her mind. "Where is Kagura-san?"

The three males seated at the table shrugged.

Tohru put down her food and headed for the stairs. She slid open the door to her bedroom about an inch. "Kagura-san?" she called.

Kagura was crying. Tohru slipped in and sat down beside her on the bed. "Kagura-san? What's wrong?"

"Kyo—Kyo-kun hates me," Kagura said dejectedly.

"No, he doesn't." Tohru put an arm around her in a comforting gesture. "You just surprised him this morning, that's all."

Kagura didn't reply.

"Now come and eat breakfast."

She shook her head. "I can't. He doesn't want me there."

Tohru sighed. After about a minute or so, she got up, giving Kagura a hug before leaving the room.

!!!

Kyo was in the middle of chewing when Tohru reappeared.

"Kagura-san is very upset," Tohru said to Kyo as she walked to the table. "I—I think you should talk to her."

Kyo swallowed. "And say what?"

"I don't know… I don't know what happened between you two," Tohru said slowly, "but you should talk to her. You're the only one who can help."

Shigure said cheerfully, "Come on, Kyo-kun! Be a man! Comfort your damsel in distress!"

Kyo fumed in silence as he marched over to the stairs.

!!!

Kyo slid the door open and walked into Tohru's room. "Kagura."

Kagura looked up. "Kyo-kun." She wiped her face on her sleeve. "What are you doing here?"

He stared at her. Crying? She had been crying? Kyo felt bad. He hadn't known that she would be so upset. Usually, he would have known immediately, since Kagura changed drastically when she was at emotional extremes. But then, she _had _told him yesterday that she was trying to stop doing that.

He stepped into the room. "I—uh—" Kyo was not very good at apologizing. He scratched his head and sank down onto the bed. "I'm—"

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

Kagura smiled. "Really?" She hugged him, then started pummeling him. "Why did you take so long to apologize? You're so mean! How could you upset me like that! You'd better—"

She froze when she heard a cough. She turned to see Shigure and Yuki looking at her. Yuki blinked. Shigure cleared his throat.

"Um… Why are you two rolling around on the bed?" Shigure asked.

Kyo pushed Kagura off of him.

Yuki walked off. He couldn't let Kyo see him laughing. But it was just so funny. For the second time in two days, Yuki laughed uncontrollably. The next thing he knew, Tohru was standing in front of him.

"Yuki-kun? What's so funny?"

Yuki just pointed in the direction of Tohru's room.

Shigure was still teasing Kyo. "Kyo-kun, I didn't know you were that kind of man."

"Shut up!" Kyo's face was flushed crimson.

"Shii-chan, stop making fun of Kyo-kun," Kagura said.

Tohru popped up next to Shigure. "Kyo-kun, we need to go to school now."

Luckily, they weren't going to be late, since the morning's strange events had woken up everyone in the house earlier than usual.

Kagura piped up, "I'll walk you to school, Kyo-kun!"

Kyo groaned.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Did you like it? Did ya? Did you? Well?! Hehe. Oh, yeah, and please forgive me for my pseudo-Japanese… It's probably all weird… I'm going on information from my friend who is Japanese, so yeah… I hope it's okay.


	2. New Developments

Author's Note: Hi! Uh… Did you like the last chapter? Hope you did!

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who's always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

*** = setting change

_italics _= emphasis

_italics_ = thoughts

~New Developments~

Six days after that day was Sunday, which meant that there was no school. Kagura had a proper bed now, so she didn't try to sneak into Kyo's room anymore, much to Kyo's relief. However, Tohru's room was getting crowded.

That day, Kagura decided that she wanted to go to the park. So, she put on her favorite green dress, brushed her shoulder-length dark hair, and grabbed her cat backpack. Then she went in search of Kyo. Again. 

"Kyo-kun!" she called. "Kyo-kun, where are you?" She rushed down the stairs, bumping into Tohru. "Oh! Tohru-kun, do you want to go to the park with me? We can invite Yun-chan and Kyo-kun!" 

Tohru smiled. "That would be nice. Thank you for inviting me." 

Kagura grinned, then resumed her search for Kyo. 

*** 

Yuki listened to Kagura's request. "The park?" He glanced at Tohru. 

"Yuki-kun, it'll be fun!" Tohru said. "You should go! Unless you have something more important to do, in which case you shouldn't go. You should take care of your own matters first and—" 

"Honda-san, I would love to go." Yuki smiled. Tohru was always concerned about other people. "I'll go," he said, turning back to his cousin. 

Kagura cheered. "Yay! Kyo-kun? Will you come?" She looked at the orange-haired boy expectantly. "You _must_ come," she said, going into scary-Kagura mode. 

Kyo made a face, then grudgingly said yes. Besides, he didn't really want to let Yuki and Tohru be together if he couldn't keep an eye on them. 

*** 

Shigure declined Kagura's offer, saying that he was busy working on his new novel. 

Kyo, Kagura, Yuki, and Tohru headed to the park. Kagura pulled Kyo past several picnic tables, a water fountain, and a screaming child. Kyo kept glancing back at Yuki and Tohru to see what was going on. Tohru seemed to be having a good time walking next to Yuki, which Kyo didn't like at all. 

"Kyo-kun, are you listening?" 

Kyo looked at Kagura. "What?" he snapped. 

"Did you hear what I said?" 

"No." 

Kagura's face fell. "Kyo-kun, you have to pay attention!" She looked forward and noticed something. "Swings!" She ran toward the playground at full speed, dragging Kyo with her. She sat down on the third of the four swings. "Kyo-kun, push me!" 

Kyo really wanted to push her, and not in the nice way. But, of course, he couldn't do that to Kagura, who would most likely beat him to a pulp if he _did_ push her in a bad way. So, he stood behind her and pushed her as needed on the swing. 

Tohru and Yuki finally caught up to them. Tohru was excited since she hadn't been on swings since she was little. She sat down on the swing next to Kagura's and started swinging by herself. Yuki, who had nothing else to do, seated himself on the swing on the other side of Tohru. He swung his feet a little, but he wasn't swinging with youthful exuberance, like the girls were. 

Kyo decided that if he pushed Kagura any more, his arms would fall off and she would end up swinging over the bar and hitting him on the way down, so he stopped. He sat down on the last available swing, just watching Tohru and Kagura have fun. Well, he was mostly watching Tohru, but since Kagura was on the swing closer to him, his view of Tohru was blocked every once in a while.  

Kagura was having lots of fun. Playing on the swings was fun, even if they _were_ a bit small for people her age. She pumped her legs, letting herself go higher and higher. This was so much fun! She looked to her left and noticed Kyo just sitting on his swing, not playing or anything. "Kyo-kun, come on!" She kept going higher and higher—and suddenly she wasn't on the swing anymore! She was flying through the air. "Aaaah!" she screamed as she flew off her swing. She dropped toward the ground, expecting to hit the ground. Instead, she fell onto something that was somewhat hard, but not as hard as the ground was. 

Kyo groaned. Why had he tried to break Kagura's fall? She wasn't that heavy, but she still wasn't the lightest thing in the world. "Kagura, get off me." 

Kagura jumped up. "Oh, Kyo-kun, you saved me!"

Tohru and Yuki came running up to the two of them. "Kagura-san, are you all right?" Tohru asked, worried. 

Kagura nodded. "I'm fine."

Kyo stood up. Kagura smiled gratefully and gave him a hug.

"Kagura, let go of me!" Kyo yelled. He tried to push her away. 

Kagura let go of Kyo. Tohru said suddenly, "Kagura-san! Your elbow!" 

"Hmm?" Kagura looked at her right elbow. She had scraped it. 

Tohru moved forward to see if Kagura had gotten any more injuries. She didn't notice that Kyo was looking at her—but Kagura did. 

Why was Kyo looking at Tohru like that? Maybe Kyo's relationship with Yuki wasn't the only one that was changing. Kagura wasn't as happy about this development as she had been about the news that Yuki and Kyo were getting along better. 

*** 

Kyo was in a tree. Why? He wanted to get away from Kagura for a minute. Kagura was all right when she wasn't being too obsessive. Of course, that was when she wasn't around Kyo, so Kyo didn't see the good side of her too much. 

Kagura, Tohru, and Yuki were sitting on the grass underneath the tree branch that Kyo was sitting on. Kagura was playing with Tohru's hair, asking Yuki every once in a while if Tohru looked nicer this way or that way. Yuki became slightly bashful as he gave his comments. 

"Kyo-kun, come down here! Does Tohru-kun look better like this?" Kagura yelled up to him.

"I don't want to come down! And why should I care if she looks better with a different hairstyle?" Kyo answered, annoyed. 

"It was just a question!" 

"It was a stupid question!" 

Suddenly, Kyo wasn't the only person in the tree. Apparently, Kagura could climb when she was in her angry mode. "Kyo-kun, take that back!" she said, pounding on Kyo repeatedly. 

"Ow! No!" 

"My questions aren't stupid! And you shouldn't just dismiss Tohru-kun like that!" 

On the ground, Tohru was getting distressed. "Kagura-san, it's all right! It's not really a big deal!" She turned to Yuki. "Yuki-kun, they're going to fall out of the tree! What do I do? What do I do?" 

"Ah! Stop!" 

Yuki just watched Kagura beat up Kyo several feet above their heads. A few minutes later, one of them fell out of the tree.

Kyo lay on the ground in pain. "This is what I get for saving that crazy girl's life," he muttered to himself. 

Tohru rushed over to him. "Kyo-kun, are you all right?" 

It seems she was a bit overzealous in her attempt to help her friend, because she got too close—meaning Kyo turned into a cat. Tohru panicked and looked around, trying to see if anyone had seen Kyo's transformation.

Kagura climbed down the tree and ran over to where Kyo was lying. "Kyo-kun, I'm so sorry! It was an accident!" She picked up feline Kyo and said, "Maybe we should go now." 

"I think that would be for the best," Yuki said, somewhat amused at how a seemingly harmless trip to the park had turned out.

*** 

Tohru had just finished putting bandages on Kyo. "Kyo-kun, I hope you'll be okay." 

"I'm fine," replied Kyo. "It doesn't hurt that much." 

Shigure entered the room with Kagura following close behind. "Kyo-kun, how did you fall out of a tree?" he asked innocently. Kagura had only told him that Kyo had injured himself by falling out of a tree. 

Kyo glared at Shigure and Kagura. "It was _her _fault," he said. 

Kagura looked pained. "I'm sorry, Kyo-kun! I got a little angry and…" She sighed. 

Kyo looked away. 

Tohru blinked. "Kyo-kun, don't be mad at Kagura-san! She was just trying to help me! You're not angry, are you, Kyo-kun?" 

Kyo looked up into Tohru's big blue eyes. _No, _he said silently. _Not at you. _Aloud, though, he said nothing. He just brushed past Kagura and went up to his room. 

*** 

Kagura had been living in Shigure's house for over a month now. Every morning, she went downstairs and ate breakfast. And everyday, she saw Kyo looking at Tohru in a way that he had never done with her.

Kagura was jealous of Tohru. She didn't hate her or anything. Tohru was her friend. And she didn't hate Kyo either—Kagura could never hate Kyo. But it hurt. Kagura had always loved Kyo. She accepted him for who and what he was from the beginning. So why was Tohru the only one who could tame him? 

So every morning, Kagura saw a bright Tohru, a humorous Shigure, a sleepy Yuki, and an indifferent Kyo. And she knew that when Kyo fought with Yuki, he wasn't just fighting to be accepted in the family. He was also fighting with Yuki for Tohru. 

Why can't he just be happy with me? I want him. I love him. I understand him. I know him in a way that Tohru-kun doesn't. No matter how well she thinks she understands, she will never really know what it is like to be part of the Jyuunishi. I'm sorry, Kyo-kun. I'm sorry I'm not the one you want to help you. 

But Kagura continued to smile and act the same way she always had around Kyo. There was still that little shred of hope left, after all. 

"Kagura, are you okay?"

Kagura looked at Shigure. They were sitting at the table, enjoying the wonderful breakfast that Tohru had made. "I'm fine, Shii-chan." She smiled. "How's your new novel?" 

Shigure grinned. "I'm almost finished. I hope it's good," he said. "Mit-chan will be coming over tomorrow to check on it." 

Yuki and Kyo sweatdropped. Poor Mit-chan. She had to deal with Shigure's tricks all the time. Why didn't she just quit? Shigure was not the best person in the world to work with. 

*** 

It was raining. Kyo didn't like the rain. He and Kagura were in the house alone, since Yuki and Tohru had gone to visit Ayame, Yuki's brother (under threat of having embarrassing stories told about him), and Shigure had gone to visit Hatori. Speaking of Shigure, Mit-chan had come over the previous day. After four hours of Shigure-caused stress, she finally got the draft for Shigure's new novel. 

Kyo was sitting on the porch, staring moodily out into the rain. Kagura slid the door open and leaned against the doorjamb, watching him. "Kyo-kun?" 

"What do you want?" 

Kagura was not put off by Kyo's attitude. She knew how he was when it was raining. "I made you some tea," she said, moving forward and handing him a cup. She sat down next to him. "What is it?" she asked, sensing that Kyo was thinking about something. 

"I miss—" Kyo stopped. "Never mind." 

"What?" Kagura asked, interested. "What do you miss?" 

Kyo hesitated. "Shishou. I miss him." He lifted the cup of tea to his lips. 

"Me too," Kagura replied. She leaned toward him, trying to see his face. "I think you miss him more than I do, though." She sat there with him for a few minutes, not saying anything. Then she said, "Do you remember when we were little?" 

"What about it?" Kyo glanced at her. 

"You used to call me 'Kagura nee-chan'," she said in a reminiscent tone. 

"So?" 

"Nothing." Kagura smiled. "How do you think Yun-chan and Tohru-kun are doing with Aya-chan?" she asked. 

Kyo made a face. "Why should I care what that kuso nezumi is doing?" he said loudly. "And his brother isn't any better." 

"Well, what about Tohru-kun?" 

"What about her?" Kyo asked snappishly. 

"Do you care about what she's doing?" 

Kyo stood up. "No," he said unconvincingly. "Why are you asking me all these questions?" he asked, irritated. "It's annoying." He went into the house. 

Kagura finished her tea, watching the raindrops hit the ground. Then she got up and went into the house.

*** 

It was nighttime of the next day. Kyo had put off studying because the rain had stopped him from concentrating. But now the rain had stopped. Kyo was sitting in front of his desk, reading a passage from his textbook. 

"How do you feel about her?" 

Kyo looked up from his studying. Kagura was standing in the doorway. "Eh?" Kyo said. 

"How do you feel about her?" Kagura repeated. 

"Who?" 

"Tohru-kun." 

Kyo put down his pencil. "Why?" 

"I need to know." 

"Why do you need to know?" 

"Just tell me!" Kagura looked very upset. 

Kyo sighed. "Fine. Close the door." 

Kagura slid the door closed, then sat down in front of Kyo. "Do you love her?" 

"I—I don't know." Kyo's reddish-brown gaze moved away from Kagura's face. 

"Do you love _me_?" 

Kyo stared at her, surprised. "No!" 

Kagura looked downcast. "Kyo-kun, you really don't love me? At all?" 

Kyo sighed. "Maybe just a little… You _are_ part of my family, after all." 

Kyo wasn't saying anything that Kagura didn't already know. Kagura covered his hand with hers. Her fingers brushed against Kyo's bracelet. "Kyo-kun, tell me how you really feel about Tohru-kun." 

"I don't know. She—she's the only one who's ever really cared about me. She accepts me and my curse. She—she always says what I want to hear." Kyo couldn't quite look at Kagura. "She doesn't think I'm just a stupid cat." 

"Do you—"

"I want to be with her. I feel better when I'm around her. It feels weird when she's not around." 

"_I _accept you, Kyo-kun. I always have and I always will._ I_ don't think you're a stupid cat." Kagura looked at him sadly. 

"I know, but—" Kyo hesitated. "It's not the same, Kagura." 

Kagura bit her lip. "Kyo-kun, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that I beat you up all the time. I don't mean to. I'm trying to stop, I really am. I want you to be happy." 

Kagura wasn't making any sense. Kyo was confused. "Kagura, what are you trying to say? What do you want to know?" 

"Do you love her?" 

Kyo didn't answer. 

Kagura put her hand under his chin and positioned his face so she could see his chestnut-colored eyes. "Kyo-kun, tell me the truth. Do you love her?" Her voice was soft and steady. 

"I think I do," Kyo answered. 

Kagura took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, rather impassively. She stood up and turned to leave, then turned back. "Can I—can I have a hug?" 

Kyo got up slowly and put his arms around her. Kagura returned the embrace. A minute later, she pulled away from Kyo and left the room before he could see the tears in her eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED… 

Author's Note: Ah! So sad! Sorry about the out-of-characterness! It's weird… I'll try harder next chapter… I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. Review? 


	3. Unexpected Events

Author's Note: Ah! Last chapter was so sad! Well, it was sad for me to write… But I hope this chapter makes up for it. Oh, I've read some manga scanlations now, so I can better understand the characters' conversations, but I can't be sure, since I can't understand the original Japanese…  

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who's always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

*** = setting change

_italics _= emphasis

_italics_ = thoughts

CAPITALS = emphasis

~Unexpected Events~

"I'm leaving." 

Shigure looked up from his writing. "Kagura?" 

"I'm leaving," Kagura said. 

"Okay, when will you be back?" Shigure asked, not understanding what she really meant.

"No, Shii-chan. I'm leaving here. I don't want to live here anymore." Kagura sighed heavily and tucked her dark brown hair behind her ear. 

"Why?" Shigure looked at his younger cousin in puzzlement.

"Kyo-kun…" She couldn't say anything beyond that. "I have to go. Right now. I'll ask someone to get my things later," she said. "Thank you for letting me stay in your house, Shii-chan. Goodbye." 

Shigure silently watched Kagura go. 

*** 

Kagura was walking around town aimlessly. After about two hours, she came to her senses and realized that she was standing in front of Ayame Sohma's shop. She decided to go inside. 

"Hello?" she called as she entered. 

Ayame poked his head into the front room. "Kagura-chan!" He rushed to her side. "Why are you here? Do you need new clothes?" he asked, excited at the thought of designing clothes for his cousin. 

"No, Aya-chan. I was just wandering around, and I ended up here," Kagura said simply. 

Ayame ushered her into another room and seated her on a sofa. He sat down across from her. "Mine's gone home already," he said, letting her know that she could talk freely. "Why are you out so late? I thought you were staying in Gure-san's house." 

"I'm not staying there anymore," Kagura replied. "He doesn't want me there." 

"Of course Gure-san wants you there." 

"Shii-chan does, but Kyo-kun doesn't." Kagura sighed heavily. "He loves her." 

"Tohru-kun?" 

Kagura nodded. 

Ayame said, "It's the same with me and Yuki. I'm trying to get closer to him, but he doesn't want me to. The only thing I can do is keep trying. I keep trying and hope that one day, it will happen." He smiled at Kagura. "And that's all you can do. Keep trying." He sighed dramatically. "Why do we have to have problems with two of the most stubborn Sohmas?" 

Kagura laughed. It was weird. Ayame was actually making sense (AN: *gasp*). And how had he expressed his opinion in so few sentences? Usually it took much more than that. She stood up. "Thank you, Aya-chan. I think I'll go back now." She moved toward the door. 

"Wait!" Ayame bounced over to Kagura and said, "Are you sure you don't want a new outfit, Kagura-chan? I'd be happy to make it! You always wear the same things! Try a new style! I know just what it should be! But what color…" 

"Aya-chan…" 

"Blue! No, green! But you always wear green… White? No… Red? No, not for you… Maybe—"

"Aya-chan, I have to go—"

"Purple. No! Yes? Oh, well, I'll decide that later. First I should decide on the fabric." 

"Tencho!" 

Kagura and Ayame turned toward the voice. Mine Kuramae had poked her head in through the door. "Tencho, I forgot something, so I came back to get it…" 

"Mine! Perfect timing!" Ayame strode over to his assistant. "This is my cousin, Kagura Sohma. I'm trying to decide on a color for an outfit I'm making for her."

Mine looked excited at the prospect of dressing up another cute girl.

"Aya-chan, I didn't want you to—"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun! Besides, you want to look your best for Kyon-kichi, don't you?" Ayame winked. "After all, you _are _engaged." 

*** 

In the end, Kagura decided to let Ayame and Mine dress her up. They had decided to let Kagura have a dress that they had already made, sending her off with the promise that they would specially design a new one for her. She walked back to Shigure's house wearing a lavender dress. The skirt came down to her knees and had puffy sleeves. 

Ayame had looked at her after she tried it on and said, "Perfect."

"Really?" 

"Yes! You'll wear my clothes, and when Kyon-kichi sees you, he'll be so impressed with your style that he'll fall in love with you right away!" 

Kagura sweatdropped. "Thank you, Aya-chan."

Kagura entered Shigure's house. "Shii-chan," she said, entering Shigure's room. 

Shigure, who had been resting, opened his eyes and looked up at her, surprised. He sat up. "Kagura, what are you doing here? You said you weren't going to live here anymore." 

"Well, I was walking around town for a while, and I ended up at Aya-chan's shop. I went in, and we talked, and then he and his assistant gave me this dress that they designed a few months ago." Kagura adjusted her skirt. "What do you think?" 

"Very nice," Shigure replied, getting up and standing in front of Kagura. "Oh, did A-ya say anything about me? Does he miss me?" 

Kagura giggled. "Shii-chan, you're so funny." 

Shigure smiled softly and gave Kagura a hug. "You're beautiful, Kagura. Now go talk to Kyo-kun." 

Kagura hugged him back, then went upstairs. 

*** 

Kyo was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had given up on studying. Ever since Kagura had left his room a few hours ago, he hadn't been able to concentrate. Why had she asked him all those questions?

"Kyo-kun?" 

Kyo heard a female voice and assumed it was Tohru, because Kagura had left the house. He glanced toward the doorway. "Kagura?" he said, clearly surprised. He sat up.

Kagura looked down shyly.

Kyo couldn't help but stare at her. The dress was very flattering on her (Ayame was very good at his job). "Kagura, where did you get that dress?" 

"I went to Aya-chan's shop." 

"Why?" Kyo asked, wondering why anyone would want to go to Ayame's shop. 

"I just happened to see it as I was walking through town." 

Kyo got serious. "Kagura—" 

"It's okay, Kyo-kun," Kagura interrupted. "You don't need to say anything." She smiled. 

Then something happened that, to Kagura, made her ordeal all worthwhile. Kyo smiled—a real smile. He smiled like he had once upon a time when Kagura was Kagura nee-chan instead of just Kagura. 

*** 

The next morning, Tohru was in the kitchen, humming happily to herself as she made breakfast. She turned around to get something from the refrigerator and saw Kagura standing next to the refrigerator, watching her. "Good morning, Kagura-san." 

"Good morning. Do you want any help?" Kagura asked, trying to be helpful. 

"That's all right, Kagura-san. I'm almost done," Tohru replied. 

Kagura nodded and looked down at her feet. "Tohru-kun…" 

"What is it?" Tohru's face was concerned. "Is something wrong?" 

Kagura shook her head. "No. It's nothing." She went into the other room and sat down at the table. 

"Watch where you're going, kuso nezumi!" 

"You're the one who's so clumsy, baka neko." 

"Shut up!" 

Kagura perked up. "Kyo-kun," she called, turning to look at the orange-haired boy who had just come downstairs. "Kyo-kun, sit next to me!" 

"Why should I?" 

Kagura blinked. "Well, when we get married, you'll want to sit next to me all the time, so you might as well get started now!" 

"Good morning, everyone," an unfocused Shigure said, coming into the room. Yuki followed him in. 

"Good morning!" Tohru said perkily, putting the food on the table. 

"Ah, this old man always feels better in the morning when his precious flower greets him so nicely," Shigure said melodramatically. 

"Baka Shigure." 

Kagura giggled. "Shii-chan is so funny." 

Kyo snorted. He looked up at Kagura as he chewed. She was being the same as always. _She's acting like last night never happened, _he thought. _Maybe… maybe that's for the best. _

"Baka, Honda-san asked you a question," Yuki said, cutting into Kyo's thoughts. 

"I heard what she said!" Kyo retorted. 

"What did she say then?" 

"She said—she said—that's not the point!" Kyo yelled, springing up. 

"Actually, Kyo-kun, that's the entire point," Shigure said, taking the liberty of informing his young cousin of the facts. 

"You stay out of this!"

Shigure clicked his tongue. "Such disrespect."

"I wasn't even talking to you! I was talking to him!" Kyo said, pointing angrily at Yuki. "Not that I want to talk to a stupid mouse anyway." 

Yuki stood up. "Let's just get this over with." 

Kyo threw a punch at his cousin. Kick. Block. Block. Punch. Kick. Punch. 

Tohru, Kagura, and Shigure looked on as Yuki and Kyo fought. Finally, with one last kick, Yuki won. Again. Kyo went flying outside. 

"Kyo-kun!" Kagura rushed to his aid. "Kyo-kun, are you all right?" 

Kyo stood up painfully. "I'm fine," he said gruffly, trying to look like Yuki hadn't hurt him at all. "I'm going to school now." He went inside to get his things. 

Tohru watched Kyo go up the stairs, then turned to Kagura. "Kagura-san, are you going to walk with us?" 

Kagura glanced at Shigure, who had a curious look on his face. Yuki got up from the table and went to his room, saying, "Breakfast was delicious, Honda-san." 

Tohru beamed, then looked at Kagura again. 

"No, Tohru-kun. I don't feel like it today." Kagura sat down across from Shigure and tried to finish her breakfast. Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki left for school. 

Shigure and Kagura sat in silence for a few minutes, eating or, in Kagura's case, pretending to eat. Shigure noticed that Kagura wasn't really eating and asked, "Is something wrong?" 

"I don't know, Shii-chan." 

"Why did you come back?" 

"I came back for Kyo-kun," Kagura replied. "Aya-chan said to me yesterday that he keeps trying to get close to Yun-chan even though Yun-chan doesn't like it. He said that maybe one day Yun-chan would finally accept him. And maybe one day, Kyo-kun will finally accept me." She shook her head. "But what if he doesn't? He doesn't need me like I need him." 

"Kyo-kun doesn't always like having you around, but he _does _need you," Shigure said wisely. "You'll see." 

"What?" Kagura looked at Shigure in confusion, but he just smiled mysteriously and went to his room. 

*** 

"Ha-san and A-ya are coming over tomorrow!" Shigure announced during dinner on Saturday, two weeks later. 

"Why?" Yuki asked. 

"Because A-ya feels like it and Ha-san will make sure we don't get too crazy!" Shigure said gleefully. 

Yuki and Kyo sweatdropped. 

Kagura and Tohru didn't really mind if Hatori and Ayame came over. Tohru asked, "Are they staying for lunch? I'd be happy to make it!" 

Shigure replied, "Oh, Tohru-kun is so sweet. A lunch prepared by you would be delicious, I'm sure." 

Tohru smiled and blushed. 

Kyo said, "I don't care who makes the lunch. I don't want to be here when they arrive." 

Kagura picked up on this and said, "Then you can go somewhere with me, Kyo-kun!" 

"No." 

"Come on, it'll be fun! We'll go shopping!" she said, smiling sweetly.

"No!" 

"We could take a walk in the forest…" 

"No, I don't want to face a bunch of boars again!" Kyo said loudly. 

"We can train together!" 

"I don't want to train with you!" 

"Kyo-kun!" Kagura whined.

"You know what? I'll just stay here instead!" Kyo paused. "Wait, what did I just say?" 

"Baka," Yuki said, finishing his tea. 

"Shut up!" Kyo yelled. "You—you—"

Yuki waited patiently to find out what Kyo was going to call him. 

"Forget it! You're not worth my time." Kyo sat down, trying to look like he had won. 

Kagura smiled. Kyo wasn't as eager to fight with Yuki as he used to be. That was good news. If Kyo could get along with Yuki, then maybe he could give Kagura a chance.

*** 

"We're here!" 

Ayame and Hatori bounced into Shigure's house. Well, Ayame bounced. Hatori just walked in normally.

"Hatori-san, Ayame-san!" Tohru said. "It's nice to see you again!" 

"Hello, Tohru-kun," Ayame answered, smiling. He turned to his brother. "Yuki! A pleasure to see you again!" 

"For who?" Yuki muttered. 

"And Kyon-kichi!" 

"Stop calling me that!" 

"Kagura-chan!" Ayame gave Kagura a hug. "How are you?" 

Kagura grinned. "I'm fine, Aya-chan." 

"Oh!" Ayame said, pulling out a bag. "I have something for you!" He pulled her into another room. 

The others stood there, confused. Then Ayame came back out. He struck a pose in the doorway. "Gure-san, I missed you terribly. I'm so lonely at night," he said, staring intently at Shigure. 

With that, Yuki and Kyo decided that they would rather not be in the room. 

"I missed you too, A-ya. Things just haven't been the same without you." Shigure flew toward Ayame. "A-ya!" 

Ayame mirrored him. "Gure-san!" 

"Yosh!" they said, meeting each other in the middle, grinning like fools. 

Meanwhile, Tohru had been talking to Hatori, asking him about his work. "That's wonderful, Hatori-san!" 

"Tohru-kun," Shigure said, drawing her attention, "I wonder if we might partake of the delicious lunch you've prepared for us." 

"Oh, but what about Kagura-san?" Tohru asked, wondering what the older girl was doing in the other room. 

"She'll be here soon enough," Ayame said. "Let's eat!" 

After Tohru found Yuki and Kyo, everyone (with the exception of Kagura) sat down at the table. A few minutes after they began eating, they heard a small noise come from the doorway. Kagura was standing just inside the room, wearing a very pretty dress. The skirt fell past her knees. It was the same soft lilac color as the bodice. The sash was a darker shade of purple. The long sleeves were made of chiffon and colored a very light, almost unnoticeable shade of indigo. The stockings she was wearing were white. Her headband and shoes were dark violet. (AN: I'm not sure if that would look good, but umm… Let's just say that it does, all right?)

Everyone was silent. Kyo stared at Kagura. Ayame was grinning and attempting to point at Kyo without being noticed. Shigure was grinning too. Hatori smiled slightly, but not enough that it was noticed. Yuki smiled. Tohru jumped up and said, "Kagura-san, you look so pretty!" 

"Thank you, Tohru-kun," Kagura said gratefully. 

Kyo finally snapped out of his trance. So what if she looked beautiful? So what? That didn't change anything. "What—?" 

Kagura focused on him. "Kyo-kun?" 

Kyo tried to act like he hadn't been affected at all by Kagura's appearance. "What are you dressed up like that for? We're just having lunch." 

"Kyon-kichi, I wanted Kagura-chan to try on this new dress I designed," Ayame explained. He got up and gestured to Kagura (Vanna White style). "Doesn't she look nice in this dress? Doesn't she? Of course she does! I designed it! You see, I started with this idea—" He would have kept on going, but he was interrupted. 

Hatori said, "Ayame." 

"What is it, Tori-san?" Ayame asked, turning to the doctor. "Is there a particular part of the outfit you want to know about?" 

"No, Ayame. Just be quiet." 

"Do I have to?" 

"Yes." 

"Okay." Ayame sat down next to Shigure. 

"I still don't see why you got all dressed up," Kyo said. "It doesn't even look that nice," he lied. 

"What did you say?" Kagura asked in a dangerous tone of voice, bending down close to Kyo. 

"I said it doesn't even look that nice." Within seconds, Kyo was crying out in pain because Kagura was beating him up again. 

"How dare you?" POW! "You are so rude!" 

Tohru stood close by, trying to stop Kagura from injuring Kyo further. "Kagura-san, I'm sure he didn't mean it!" 

Yuki, Ayame, and Shigure continued to enjoy their lunch. Ayame just hoped that his beautiful new creation wouldn't be ruined. Hatori calmly readied his medical instruments. Kyo was going to need medical attention by the time Kagura was finished with him. 

Finally, the beating stopped. Kagura's eyes went wide when she saw the damage she had done to Kyo. "Kyo-kun! Are you all right? Was it—was it me?" 

"It was you," Shigure volunteered cheerfully. 

"I'm sorry, Kyo-kun!" Kagura brushed Kyo's hair away from his face to see if she had hurt his face. "Kyo-kun, what can I do to help? I'll do anything!" 

"Just get away from me," Kyo said, his teeth clenched. 

Hatori came over to help Kyo, Tohru hovering worriedly behind him.

"A-ya, _I _think your new creation is great, even if Kyo-kun doesn't," Shigure said. 

"Why, thank you, Gure-san. Mine and I worked very hard on this one." Ayame looked up at Kagura, who was still standing. "Kagura-chan, do you like it?" 

Kagura nodded. "It's very nice. It fits perfectly." 

"Of course it does! I made it, didn't I?" Ayame said pompously. 

Tohru said, "Ayame-san is very good at making clothes. Kagura-san's dress is lovely." 

Ayame replied, "Do you want me to make you one too, Tohru-kun? I just need you to come by the store for measurements…" He turned to Yuki. "Yuki, you can come too! It'll be fun! Like the first time you visited my store! We can dress up Tohru-kun in lots of pretty dresses and see which one you like best!" 

Tohru tried to refuse. "Ayame-san, your offer is too generous! I don't need a new dress! I have enough clothes." 

Ayame gave her a hurt look. "You don't want to try on the clothes I've designed?" 

"No, it's not that! Your designer clothes are wonderful! I just—"

"Great! I'll expect to see you two soon!" Ayame said as if Tohru had not tried to refuse at all. 

"Can I come too?" Kagura asked. 

"Of course! Then we'll have two models!" 

Yuki, Kyo, and Hatori sweatdropped. Shigure grinned. 

TO BE CONTINUED… 

Author's Note: Weird… But I hope it was nice and not too "out there"…. Umm… So review if you feel like it… yeah… *sigh* Not enough Kyo and Kagura interaction… Sorry! I was mostly trying to set up stuff for the next chapter… Blah… 


	4. Unforeseen Circumstances

Author's Note: More weird stuff in this chapter! I apologize profusely for not updating. This chapter doesn't have much Kagura/Kyo stuff, but I'll get some in, don't worry. 

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who's always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

*** = setting change

_italics _= emphasis

CAPITALS = emphasis

~Unforeseen Circumstances~

"Ha-san, what do you think?" Shigure asked. 

Hatori settled his cool gaze on Shigure. "Shigure, I don't care whether Ayame wears red or blue." 

"Tori-san!" Ayame gasped. "You don't want me to look my best?"

"Ayame, you're just going to be in your store." 

"But Tohru-kun, Kagura-chan, and especially Yuki have to see me at my greatest!" Ayame declared. 

Shigure spoke up, "A-ya, I think I'll visit your shop too."

"That will be wonderful, Gure-san! Now I _definitely _have to look my best!" Ayame said, giving Hatori a glance. He turned to Kagura, who was sitting next to Tohru. "Kagura-chan, what color do you think I should wear?" 

Kagura shrugged. "Well, you always wear the red one, Aya-chan. Maybe you should wear something different." 

"Tohru-kun?" 

Tohru smiled nervously. "Ayame-san looks good in different types of clothes."

Ayame grinned. "Thank you, Tohru-kun. Yuki, what do you think?" 

"Nii-san, it doesn't matter what color you wear," Yuki replied. "I don't care."

"What? Of course it matters! Color is a very important part of fashion! How can you say it doesn't matter? How can you not care? Yuki, you should know better." 

Yuki was starting to get a headache. "I'm going to my room." He left the table. 

Ayame stared after his brother for a minute, then turned to Yuki's nemesis, who was sitting across from him. "Kyon-kichi-kun, what do you think I should wear?" 

Kyo replied, "Why should I care what you wear? And stop calling me that!" 

Ayame turned to Shigure. "I don't think Kyon-kichi's feeling well." 

Kyo felt his temper flaring up. "Stop that!" 

"Stop what?" Ayame asked, clueless. 

Kyo jumped up and made a move toward Ayame, intending to throttle the older man. However, he was held back by Kagura, who threw her arms around him. 

"Kyo-kun, don't hurt Aya-chan!" 

"Why shouldn't I?" Kyo demanded, still trying to hurt Ayame. He struggled to get out of Kagura's grasp, but he didn't make much progress. Kyo was strong, but Kagura was pretty strong herself. After all, she had trained under Kazuma too. 

Tohru hovered worriedly in the background. Kagura already had a hold of Kyo. If Kyo angered her, her grip might just turn into a death grip.

Kagura asked Hatori brightly, "Ha-chan, will you be coming with us to visit Aya-chan's shop too?" 

Ayame turned quickly toward Hatori. "Yes, Tori-san! You _must _come!" 

"No," replied Hatori, taking out a cigarette. 

"But you never come to visit," Ayame whined. "Why don't you visit me?" 

"I'm busy." 

Shigure spoke up, "Ha-san, you never visit me either." A sly grin made its way onto his face. "Except when you come because of Tohru-kun." 

Hatori said in his most icy tone, "Shigure." 

That, of course, shut him up. Kyo took the opportunity to say, "Hatori's not going! Why should I go?" 

Kagura protested, "Kyo-kun!"

At this time, Tohru saw how much Kagura wanted Kyo to go, so she decided to try to help her. "Kyo-kun, Kagura-san and I would really like for you to go. You haven't seen Ayame-san's shop, either, and it's very wonderful." Ayame beamed at this comment. 

Kyo simply looked at Tohru. Finally, he let out a small puff of breath and, staring intently at his food, said, "Fine! I'll go, but only because I'm curious about what the stupid place looks like." 

Kagura cheered. 

This angered Kyo for some reason. "Stop that!" 

"Kyo-kun's coming with us!" Kagura said happily. 

"You're so annoying!" 

"Don't be such a sourpuss," interjected Shigure. 

"You're annoying too!" shouted Kyo. 

From another room, Yuki's voice could be heard. "No one's more annoying than you, baka neko." 

"Shut up!" 

*** 

The next weekend, Kyo, Kagura, and Tohru were walking to Ayame's store shortly after noon. Yuki had respectfully declined, saying that he had some student council business. Shigure was already at the shop, since he had gone to the main house earlier that morning and decided to stop by on the way back home. 

Kagura was in complete bliss. After a small quarrel, she had convinced Kyo to hold hands with her. She hummed a happy song under her breath. She always enjoyed going places with Kyo. She didn't care where they went as long as Kyo was with her. 

"How far is this place, anyway?" Kyo demanded. 

"It's not too far," replied Tohru, smiling as always. "We'll be there soon." 

Kyo grunted in response, then looked at Kagura. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why holding hands with him made her so happy. _He_ certainly didn't get any special feeling out of it. The only reason he had even agreed to it was to prevent any disturbances on the way to the shop. Well, that and the fact that Kagura had very nearly thrown him through the wall again. 

Tohru asked Kagura how her college classes were going. 

Delighted, Kagura began telling her about her schoolwork in detail. 

Kyo didn't understand girls. Why did they always make small talk? It was like they had to fill in every bit of silence before they felt comfortable. What was wrong with being quiet for once and just thinking? 

The three passed a harassed-looking woman with four children. One of them, a girl, broke away from the group and latched onto Kyo, who immediately turned into a cat. Confused, the girl stared at the animal in her arms. "A kitty?" 

Tohru blurted out the first excuse that came to mind. "It's a magic trick! He's magic!"

"Magic? Can he turn into other animals?" 

"Junko! Come here!" the girl's mother commanded. 

Junko dropped Kyo and ran back to her family. 

Tohru scooped up the orange cat and ran into an alley, Kagura following close behind with Kyo's clothes. 

"Why do these things have to happen to me?" Kyo screeched as Tohru put him down. 

"The little girl just liked you," Kagura said. She put the clothes down next to him. 

Kyo harrumphed. 

Tohru crouched down next to him. "I'm sure she thought you were a very cute kitty." 

POOF! Kyo yelled, "Turn around!" 

The girls whirled around, allowing Kyo to get dressed. 

"All right, let's go!" Kyo said, stomping back onto the street. 

(AN: This following part was inspired by Akurei's _Harry Potter _fanfic, _Sick as a Dog_.)  
  


The three had just barely started walking again when they came across an old man. Kyo neared him, thinking that the man needed a tissue. 

"ACHOO!"

Kyo stood, frozen, as his mind absorbed what had just happened to him. He had just been sneezed upon by an old man. A very old, very unhealthy-looking man. A very old, unhealthy-looking man who had not bothered to cover his nose and mouth when the sickening deed occurred.

The old man continued on his way as if nothing had happened. 

Disgusted, Kyo emitted some very irritated sounds, causing him to sound remarkably like a crazed wildcat. He also began cursing, which prompted Tohru to cover her rather delicate ears. Kagura, on the other hand, had long ago learned to accept everything about Kyo, including his rather unsavory vocabulary. 

Kagura tried to calm him down. "Kyo-kun, stop screaming!" 

Tohru offered her a handkerchief, which Kagura used to wipe the offending mucus off of Kyo. Kyo angrily kept walking. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back! This whole thing is already a mess!" 

He was cursed. He had to be cursed. Granted, he already had the Sohma curse, but now more bad things were happening to him. And all because he had let himself be persuaded to visit his eccentric cousin. 

Kagura hugged him from behind. "It's all right, Kyo-kun. Everything will be better once we get there." 

"Get off of me!" 

*** 

Kyo stared at the sign in front of Ayame's shop, now severely wishing that he had not listened to Tohru. Why did the girl have such sway over him? He hadn't wanted to come originally. He didn't even like Ayame. And yet, here he was, standing with the most annoyingly nice girl he had ever met and another girl who was just plain annoying. Well, Kagura wasn't thatbad sometimes. But Ayame certainly was.

Kyo made a face. What had he gotten himself into? 

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Okay, I promise so much that I will update soon! Okay, May 1st will be my deadline. If I don't make it by then, you guys can throw things at me. 


	5. Current Issues

Author's Note: Here's chapter 5, on May 1st, as promised! Argh, well, it would have been if my stupid Internet had been working right!

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who's always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

*** = setting change

_italics _= emphasis

_italics_ = thoughts

~Current Issues~

The three teenagers entered the store. Before any of them could say a word, Ayame and Shigure popped up in front of them. 

"You're here!" Ayame exclaimed. "Too bad my little brother couldn't come." 

Shigure greeted the youths by saying, "You're late." 

Kyo simply glared at the older man and stalked past him into the next room. 

Ayame clicked his tongue. "Such rudeness. Kyon-kichi-kun, you should really learn how to be more respectful, like Tohru-kun." He turned back to the girls, who were smiling. "Tohru-kun! Kagura-chan! Welcome, welcome! I've rearranged some things. What do you think?" He indicated the room. "It looks amazing, doesn't it?" 

Kagura nodded. "It's very nice." 

Shigure asked, "Did you have any trouble getting here?" 

"No," Tohru replied. "We had a very nice walk." She looked around. "Is Mine-san here?" 

"She can't stay long," Ayame said regretfully, "but she came in today to be here during your visit." He turned around and called out, "Mine!" 

"Yes, tencho?" Mine, Ayame's assistant, appeared out of the back room. She was sporting a receptionist look for the day. "They've arrived!" she said happily.

"Come!" Ayame said, leading the way into the room into which Kyo had gone. "Mine, I'd like to introduce you to my cousin Kyon-kichi." 

Kyo whirled around. "My name is Kyo!" he yelled angrily. 

Mine bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet another of tencho's cousins." 

"A-ya," Shigure broke in, "we didn't finish our conversation." 

"Right!" Ayame exclaimed. He turned to his assistant. "Mine, let Kagura-chan and Tohru-kun see the outfits we decided on." He looked at Shigure. "Gure-san, let's finish our chat."

Shigure and Ayame went into another room to talk. Mine whisked the girls away, presumably to try on dresses. Kyo was left by himself, which was a rather welcome relief, actually. Feeling a bit tired, he stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. 

A few minutes later, he heard Ayame's and Shigure's voices close by. "Kyon-kichi-kun, we have a surprise for you!" 

Kyo opened his eyes to see his cousins standing over him holding something light blue. "What—?" Before he knew what was happening, he was no longer wearing the clothes he had put on in the morning. Instead, the light blue whatever-it-was was on him. 

The three females chose that moment to return from looking at and trying on clothes.

Kyo looked into a nearby mirror and nearly dropped dead from shock. "I look like _Momiji_!" he shouted. He immediately pounded Shigure and Ayame into the ground. 

Dazed, Shigure said, "We thought it would look good on you."

"Doesn't he look cute?" Ayame asked Mine and the girls. 

Mine responded, "Tencho, you've done it again! Kyo-san is adorable!" 

Ayame beamed at the compliment, now recovered from Kyo's beating. "Yes, I know." Going into fashion mode, he began, "I thought this shape of collar would be a nice touch. It helps balance the outfit and make the entire outfit flow, don't you think?" 

Mine nodded enthusiastically. "It's an adorable look!" 

Kyo interjected, "I don't want to be adorable!" 

Kagura said happily, "I think Kyo-kun is always adorable!" She stepped closer to Kyo. "Look, isn't he so cute?" she asked the others, hugging Kyo tightly.

"Kagura, let go!" 

The girl paid no heed to Kyo's command. 

"The clothes you make are stunning, Ayame-san!" Tohru said enthusiastically. "You and Mine-san are very talented!" 

Ayame laughed. "Of course they're stunning! They are, after all, designed and created by Ayame Sohma, the best—" He was interrupted by a sneeze from Kyo. 

"Eh?" Shigure peered closely at Kyo. "Kyo-kun, do you have a cold?" 

"No," Kyo replied, sniffing. "Leave me alone." 

"Oh, Kagura," Shigure said, suddenly remembering something. "I talked to your mother this morning. She wants you to visit her." 

"All right," Kagura replied. "I'll go later this week."

Kyo was still bristling with anger. "Give me my clothes! I need to get out of this stupid outfit!" 

*** 

Mine left the shop as Kyo changed back into his regular clothes. Kyo returned to the others, who were discussing their high school and college years. 

"I enjoy going to school to see my friends," Tohru was saying, "but sometimes the tests are too difficult."

"High school was fun for me," Shigure commented. "All thanks to you, A-ya." 

"Thank you, Gure-san. But it wouldn't have been quite as enjoyable without you," Ayame replied. 

Kagura looked up. "Kyo-kun, you're back!" She motioned for him to sit between her and Tohru. 

Kyo sat down and crossed his arms. "What kind of place is this anyway?" he asked Ayame. "What was that blue outfit you put on me?" 

Ayame answered dreamily, "It's a place where men's dreams can come true…" 

Kyo wished that he hadn't asked. 

***

"Goodbye, Ayame-san. I had a lovely time!" Tohru said. 

"I did too," Kagura added. "This was fun." 

Kyo just grunted and looked somewhere off to the side. 

"A-ya, I hope our next meeting shall be soon," Shigure said, a touch of sadness in his voice.

"As do I," replied Ayame in the same tone. His dramatic flair showed as he continued, "The wait will be far too long." His expression changed completely as he and Shigure put their hands together and said, "Yosh!" 

Kyo walked out of the shop, glad that the whole thing was now over. He was soon followed by Ayame's other guests. Before Kagura could suggest it, Kyo held out his hand to her. After all of the annoyances Kyo had experienced today, this was probably the most harmless. He decided that he would rather let Kagura hold his hand on the way home than get into the confrontation that would take place if he didn't.

Surprised, Kagura blinked, then gratefully slipped her hand into his. 

*** 

Two days later, Tohru was setting out breakfast for the household when Yuki walked into the dining room. 

"Good morning, Yuki-kun!" Tohru greeted the boy. "Your breakfast is ready." 

"Good morning, Honda-san." Yuki looked around. "I don't hear that annoying cat's voice."

Tohru paused. "Kyo-kun is an early riser. He usually comes in before you do." 

Yuki seated himself. "It doesn't matter anyway. At least he isn't here being loud." 

Shigure and Kagura entered at the same time. "Good morning!" they said cheerfully. 

"Where's Kyo-kun?" inquired Kagura, who had become accustomed to seeing the object of her affections already seated in the dining room when she entered. 

"This is odd, isn't it?" said Shigure.

The orange-headed subject of the conversation shuffled into the room. He looked remarkably similar to how Yuki looked on most mornings. 

"Kyo—Kyo-kun, how are you?" Tohru asked. 

Kyo answered, "Eh." He sat down next to Kagura without even realizing it. He put his head on the table. 

"Are you feeling well, Kyo-kun?" Kagura asked. 

By now, everyone was staring at Kyo, awaiting his response. Even Yuki looked concerned. 

Kyo sniffed. He didn't feel much like moving. His head—and his muscles—ached. He had been up half the night coughing. He tried to tell the others not to look at him, but exhaustion overcame him. He settled for an incoherent mumble. 

Shigure leaned over the table and felt Kyo's forehead. "He has a fever." 

"Kyo-kun's sick?" Kagura's face expressed anxiety. "How? When?" 

Tohru frowned as she tried to remember anything that had happened in the past few days that would cause her friend to become sick. Perhaps when they visited Ayame's store… "The old man! That man sneezed on him." 

Kagura nodded in remembrance. "How sick is he?" she asked, peering closely at the fatigued boy next to her. 

"He's contagious," said Shigure. "Yuki-kun, Tohru-kun, you should go to school. I'll take care of Kyo-kun." He looked at the uneaten food on the table. "I wish I could stay to eat this delicious food that Tohru-kun carefully prepared. Hmm, actually..." Shigure addressed his female cousin. "Kagura, can you get Kyo up to his room?" 

Kagura nodded and hoisted Kyo up onto her shoulder, a feat that many would not have thought possible. She hurriedly ran to the stairwell, headed for Kyo's room. 

Shigure quickly wolfed down his breakfast. "Delicious, Tohru-kun, as always." He got up from the table and went upstairs. 

Yuki and Tohru sweatdropped, not quite sure what to make of what Shigure had just done.

*** 

(AN: I don't know much about Kagura's educational environment…)

Kagura spent the entire day worrying about Kyo through the longest classes she had ever had. She would have stayed home with him, but Shigure had insisted that she go to school. She only agreed because Shigure had promised to call Hatori to examine Kyo. 

_Kyo-kun… Please be okay… _

*** 

Shigure's door was practically thrown open by the young woman who had only left the house that morning after much coaxing and reassurance. 

"Kyo-kun! Is Kyo-kun all right?" Kagura demanded. 

"He's rest—" Shigure was cut off by Kagura's running up the stairs. Shaking his head and smiling softly, he followed Kagura into Kyo's room. "He's resting." 

Kagura stood looking down at Kyo. "What did Ha-chan say? Is Kyo-kun going to be all right?" Her voice was hushed with worry and anxiety. 

Shigure patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "He'll be fine. Hatori said it was only the flu," Shigure informed her. "He has a fever, but it isn't that high." 

"He looks so weak," Kagura said tearfully. "He isn't dying, is he? I don't know what I would do if Kyo-kun—" 

"Kagura, the situation isn't that bad. Kyo-kun just needs to rest for a few days. He'll get better soon." 

"But what if—?"

"He's strong enough to get through this."

"But—"

"You don't need to be so afraid." 

***

Even though Shigure assured her that Kyo's illness was not fatal, Kagura couldn't help worrying. She was determined to help Kyo get better as quickly as possible. Kyo _had_ to fight off this sickness. He just had to. 

Perhaps she should go make something for him to eat. Kagura went down to the kitchen. She stood in the middle of the room and pondered. "Hmm… What to make…?"

Shigure appeared behind her. "I believe Kyo-kun made leek soup for Tohru-kun when she was sick," he offered helpfully. 

Kagura shook her head vigorously. "Kyo-kun hates leeks. I'll make him something else." 

Shigure watched his cousin putter around the kitchen. He'd keep a close eye on her. Kagura always tried to do nice things for Kyo, but she was often overzealous in her efforts. Things would inevitably go wrong. Although such an incident would probably be amusing, Shigure knew that Kagura's mistakes often led to the destruction of some part of the house. 

Kagura looked in the refrigerator for ingredients. "I'll make him a delicious meal!" She hummed to herself as she poked around the top shelf. She pulled out a large number of items. 

Shigure eyed the growing pile of food items on the counter. "Uh, Kagura, maybe you should try something simpler. Kyo-kun will be too sick to eat anything elaborate, and he probably won't be able to taste it either."

Kagura absorbed this and said, "Maybe just some tea and broth then."

Yuki, who had just come home from school, entered the kitchen. He stared at all the ingredients on the counter. "Kagura, are you preparing something special?" 

"Kyo-kun's sick. I'm going to help him get better!" 

Shigure sweatdropped. Kagura's effort was admirable, but her excitement could be a problem.

TO BE CONTINUED… 

Author's Note: Poor Kyo... Kagura too, actually… So far, the love is still pretty much one-sided… It'll get better, I promise. Just as soon as I find the time to sit down and write well…


	6. Unanticipated Problems

Author's Note: I love the reviews I'm getting! They're really encouraging. Sometimes writer's block sets in and it won't leave… Rest assured, I _will_ finish this fic, however long it takes. Hopefully sooner rather than later, though, huh? Oh, one more thing I wanted to say even though it's not that big of a deal. As a reminder, this fic is set in the anime-verse, so if anything conflicts with the manga, I didn't mean for it to happen.

Title: Neko to Inoshishi

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.

Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who has always wanted him, Kagura.

Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…

Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

!!! = setting change

_italics _= emphasis

_italics_ = thoughts

-Unanticipated Problems-

Kagura hummed her favorite song to herself as she began tidying up Kyo's room. She folded Kyo's clothes and stood up to put them in the dresser. As she opened the top drawer, Kyo opened his eyes. He glanced sleepily at the girl, and then went back to sleep.

Kagura finished her task and turned to look at poor, sick Kyo. She noticed that the towel she had placed on his head was askew. She walked the short distance to the bed and readjusted the towel. There. He should feel more comfortable now.

In one corner of the room was a chair. Kagura had set it up earlier so she could watch over Kyo as he slept. She probably would have been more comfortable in her bed, but she wasn't about to abandon Kyo in his time of need.

!!!

Kyo woke up in the middle of the night, feeling very thirsty. He turned his head to the side and spotted a glass of water on his nightstand. He reached for it as he sat up, but his fingers betrayed him, allowing the glass to fall to the floor.

He heard a small gasp come from the corner of his room. Light footsteps neared him. The sound of glass being cleared away mingled with the soothing voice that reached Kyo's ears.

"Don't get up, Kyo-kun. You need your rest. I'll take care of this."

Tohru? No, Kagura. It was always Kagura.

Kyo didn't hear the hushed "Ow!" that came next.

Kagura put her finger in her mouth. She had rushed to get the pieces cleaned up and had accidentally cut herself in the process. She'd have to ask Shigure where the bandages were.

Gathering the broken pieces in a towel, the girl stood and looked down at the orange-haired boy. She brushed his bangs away from his face. Oh, well. At least Kyo hadn't stepped on the broken glass. She walked out of the bedroom and emptied the shards in the trash. Then she headed for Shigure's room.

!!!

Shigure happened to be up, writing. He heard Kagura call out, "Shii-chan, are you awake?"

In reply, he said, "Come in."

Kagura slid the door open. "I'm sorry to bother you, but where are the bandages?"

"Eh? What happened?" he asked, searching in a drawer. "Ah, here they are."

Kagura came closer and showed him her finger. "I cut myself on a piece of broken glass." She waited patiently as Shigure tended to her small wound. When he finished, she gave him a smile. "Arigatou."

Shigure was unable to stop himself from smiling in return. Kagura had always been one of his favorite cousins. She had amazing energy, and, although her emotions often got the best of her, she was generally very friendly and kind.

Even though he wouldn't have quite as much amusement as usual if Kyo returned the girl's feelings, Shigure sometimes thought that his hot-tempered cousin would be better off falling in love with Kagura than falling for anyone else.

!!!

Kagura returned with a glass of milk. "Here, Kyo-kun," she said, attempting to prop up Kyo with one hand while holding the cold beverage in the other.

Still very feverish, Kyo slowly sat up and took the glass from her. He drank, swallowing the glass's contents as quickly as he could. When he finished, he collapsed back against his pillows, his eyes closed. He winced at phantom pain a couple of times.

Kagura removed the glass from his weak grip and looked down at him in concern. She knew how much Kyo hated being sick. Weakness was something that Kyo disliked intensely. Being shunned by the Sohma family was a terrible experience for him, and he wanted always to have the strength to overcome it. Kyo was in constant fear of being attacked, and he was considerably less equipped for emotional strikes than physical ones.

_Don't worry, Kyo-kun. I won't hurt you where you'll feel the most pain. _Kagura wished she didn't have to hurt him at all, but sometimes she just couldn't help using martial arts on him. If only he would return her love…

!!!

The next morning, Kagura reluctantly left Kyo's side to get ready for her visit to her mother. She went downstairs and stood with her back to the front door, the other three residents of the house standing before her.

"Are you sure Kyo-kun will be all right?" Kagura asked worriedly. "He needs a lot of care."

Tohru looked determined. "I'll do my best to take care of Kyo-kun in your absence!" she declared.

Shigure nodded. "Tohru-kun and I can handle it," he said cheerily.

"In other words, he'll be of no help at all."

Fake tears streamed from Shigure's eyes. "Yuki-kun is so cruel."

Kagura didn't like having to be away from Kyo while he was ill, but her mother was expecting her. She loved the woman who had raised her just as much as she loved Kyo, albeit in a different way. Besides, she was sure that Tohru would do well in her stead.

!!!

(AN: I'm not very clear on Kagura's family life, but here it is.)

"Are you happy?"

Kagura turned to her mother, who was sitting at the kitchen table. She carried two freshly poured cups of tea to the table and sat across from the woman.

"Happy?" Kagura echoed.

"Yes. Are you happy living in Shigure-kun's house?" Her mother sipped her tea.

Kagura nodded. "Shii-chan and Tohru-kun always make me feel welcome. And I'm happy to see Yun-chan softening."

"What about Kyo?"

"Kyo-kun's sick right now," answered Kagura. "I'm taking care of him."

Kagura's mother put down her cup and looked at her daughter. "You still like him?"

"I'll never give up on Kyo-kun. Never," Kagura said loudly, standing up and clasping her hands together. "He's the only one for me. I love him more than anything."

This earned her a smile. "I miss having you in the house."

"Ah?" Kagura blinked. She sat down. Dubiously, she said, "Okaa-san… I suppose I could move back if you really wanted me to..." She cleared her throat. Her voice sounded a little scratchy.

"No, it's all right. As long as you're happy."

The girl smiled. She nodded once and replied, "I need to be there for Kyo-kun. I like being able to see him every day instead of having to hold in my feelings between visits." She sighed dreamily. "He's the most wonderful and special person in the world to me." She looked into her teacup. "I worry about him sometimes, but I think he's okay now. Living with Shii-chan, Yun-chan, and Tohru-kun is good for him."

"You're always so concerned about him," Kagura's mother said, slightly amused.

"Of course I am! I'm going to be his future wife, aren't I?"

!!!

When Kagura got back to Shigure's house, she found Tohru leaving Kyo's room carrying a tray. She offered to help, and the two girls carried the dishes downstairs together.

Tohru took off the mask that Shigure had given her to ward off the contagion and put it aside. Then she began washing the dishes.

"Tohru-kun, how is Kyo-kun?" asked Kagura. She took the plate from Tohru and rinsed it.

"He still has a fever," answered Tohru, "but it's lower than it was before."

Her fears not completely dispelled, Kagura asked, "Will he be all right?"

Tohru began scrubbing at a bowl. "Shigure-san said that Kyo-kun would probably be able to go to school in two or three days." She smiled at the older girl. "I'm sure he'll get well soon."

"Honda-san?" a weak voice called from near the kitchen cabinet.

Tohru turned her head. "Yes, Yuki-kun?"

"Do we have any—?" Yuki promptly threw up on the kitchen floor.

"Yun-chan!"

"Yuki-kun!"

Shigure wandered in at the moment. "What are we having for dinner tonight?" He looked down, spotting Yuki sitting on the floor right next to— Shigure sighed. "I guess we'd better clean this up. Come on, Yuki-kun. I'll call Haa-san." He helped his young cousin to his feet and gently prodded the teen in the direction of his room.

Tohru moved to clean up the mess, but Kagura beat her to it.

"You finish the dishes, Tohru-kun. I'll clean this up."

"Hai!"

!!!

The next morning, the two teenage boys in the house woke up and went about their daily routines. Kyo felt a little woozy, but otherwise, not too bad. Yuki had a headache.

Kyo fell down half of the stairs, but he walked down normally the rest of the way. He headed for the kitchen. He poked his head into the refrigerator, but he couldn't find what he was searching for. "Are we out of milk?!" yelled Kyo. His voice was nowhere near its usual volume, but it was loud enough to resound through quite a few rooms.

Yuki winced. The throbbing in his head was increasing. "Be quiet, baka neko."

"Kyo-kun?" Kagura came down the stairs, looking around quickly. "There you are! You weren't in bed when I woke up to check on you." She rushed toward Kyo.

"Yuki-kun, Kagura-san, Kyo-kun." The trio turned toward the sound of Tohru's voice. "Why are you all up so early?"

"I'm sorry, Tohru-kun, did we disturb you?"

Tohru waved a hand. "No, this is the time that I usually wake up."

"Yun-chan, are you all right?" Concerned, Kagura took a few steps toward her princely cousin.

Yuki stopped her in her tracks, saying, "Don't worry. It was just this baka neko's yelling that gave me a headache."

"What did you say?" responded Kyo.

"You're noisy."

"Um…" Tohru attempted to squeeze past Kyo into the kitchen, but Kyo was too busy challenging Yuki.

"That's it!" Kyo readied himself for a fight. "Prepare yourself! Let's go!"

Yuki put a hand to his forehead. "No."

"What?! Come on, nezumi! Are you afraid of me?"

"Only of your loudness."

Kyo bristled with anger. "Stop talking and fight!"

"You're the one who keeps yelling so much," replied Yuki.

Kyo growled. The two readied themselves for battle as the girls looked on. "Kyo-kun, be careful!" cautioned Kagura. "Yun-chan might hurt you!"

Kyo didn't seem to appreciate the warning. "Kagura, I can handle this! Get ready to lose, kuso nezumi!" He took a step toward Yuki, his fist raised. Yuki took a step to meet him in the middle. However, exhaustion overcame the boys before they could connect. Fatigued, they both began falling to the floor.

"Yuki-kun!" Tohru raced across the room to catch Yuki before he hit his head on the floor.

Kyo was barely aware of the fact that she had left his side. He just knew that someone was holding him up. Then there was an annoying, familiar voice—it sounded like Shigu—Shi—that man—who… wrote… things…

!!!

"What happened in here?"

The scene that met Shigure's eyes was not expected. Yuki and Kyo were being propped up by Tohru and Kagura, respectively. The boys seemed to have lost consciousness.

Shigure opted to help Tohru, since Kagura was probably the stronger of the two girls. Besides that, Yuki's body had always been weaker than Kyo's on account of his respiratory condition.

"Tohru-kun, let's get Yuki-kun to his room." Shigure and Tohru carried Yuki out of the room, leaving Kagura alone with the motionless Kyo.

"Kyo-kun." Kyo felt heavier than he usually did. Kagura slowly sank to her knees on the floor, letting him use her lap as a pillow. "Hmm… How should I—?" She didn't get a chance to finish asking herself the question, because she had a sudden urge to sneeze. She turned her head and sneezed about five times. _Hmm. There must be dust in the air._

Shigure returned to the room, saying to Tohru, "I think Yuki-kun should just rest for now."

Kagura coughed once, then looked up at Shigure. "Shii-chan, can you help me carry Kyo-kun? I can't lift him…"

Shigure frowned. Kagura should have been able to lift Kyo… She tossed him around often enough as proof. "All right, come on." He slung one of Kyo's arms over his shoulder.

"How can I help?" asked Tohru, looking back and forth from Yuki's room to the stairwell, which Shigure and Kagura, with a limp-looking Kyo, had just begun to climb.

"Just make a delicious dinner like always, and we'll greatly appreciate it," Shigure called from the stairs.

Kagura stumbled on the last stair. She quickly glanced at Kyo, afraid that she had caused him to bump his head. No, he was fine. With Shigure's help, she placed Kyo on his bed and tucked him in. Kagura kissed Kyo on the forehead. "Get well soon, Kyo-kun."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Man, the romance is awfully slow… Seems like it's going in reverse sometimes… It's going forward though, I swear. I think it's okay for now. A Kagura/Kyo romance doesn't just plop out of thin air, after all. Kyo's a difficult character to work with sometimes… He is cute, though, isn't he? I'd like to get some more reviews with this chapter—that is, if people are still reading this story. Wah, I'm a terrible updater… I'm getting better, though. I'm not taking, like, a whole year to post a new chapter anymore. Yay, I think.

BIG THANK YOU TO: Maeven, Runic Knight, Meta Lise, Sailor Panda, White Meteor, Lady of the Ink, rokusan, GoddessLD, Kaylariana, Lil-Sun-Rie, Daniel of Lorien, Promise Keeper, Sophie-chan, Novalee Sims, phatting-grl, and all the anonymous reviewers!


	7. Unusual Feelings

Author's Note: Meep. Merry Christmas, everyone! Sorry this update took so long. Ergh, it would have taken less time if this darn QuickEdit would be more cooperative.

Title: Neko to Inoshishi  
Rating: PG  
Spoilers: Some spoilers, I guess. I'll try not to have too many specific ones, though.  
Summary: Kyo falls for the one girl who has always wanted him, Kagura.  
Disclaimer: I don't own _Fruits Basket_… darn…  
Setting: This story takes place after episode 26.

--- - setting change  
_italics - _emphasis  
_italics_ - thoughts

-Unusual Feelings-

Sunday morning began with a heavy downpour. Shigure had shut himself up in his study for the day, while Tohru decided to clean the whole interior of the house. Kagura sat by Kyo's bedside, waiting to see if he needed anything. Yuki remained in his room after breakfast.

Right before lunchtime, Yuki received a visitor as he stood at the window.

"Yun-chan," called a voice from the doorway.

Yuki turned away from the rainy scene outside. "Kagura."

"Yun-chan, what do you think about when you look out at the rain?"

"I remember when shihan last came here." Yuki looked curiously at his cousin. "What do you think about?"

"I think about how terrible Kyo-kun feels when it's raining." Kagura smiled at him. "You shouldn't be up. It's cold today, and your bronchial tubes might—"

Yuki returned to looking out the window. "I'll be all right. Just a few more minutes."

Kagura nodded. "I need to get back to Kyo-kun."

"Why do you care about him so much?" The question came out before Yuki realized it. "He's never done anything but yell at you."

"You're wrong."

Yuki frowned in puzzlement, but he did not ask for an explanation.

Kagura smiled, her mind no longer in the present. Kyo hadn't always found her annoying. They used to play together as children. He had looked up to her. Until the day she saw the cat's true form—when shame and fear overpowered his affection for her. She had cried for him, and perhaps a little for herself, that day.

The smile faded, then brightened again as Kagura brought back the sweet memories—the ones that gave her hope. "I'll find him again."

---

The next day, Monday, Kyo was finally pronounced healthy enough to go to school. Yuki, however, was still feeling a bit weak, so Shigure gave him some medicine and ordered him to stay in bed for the rest of the day. Kagura helped Tohru prepare breakfast.

"Tohru-kun, I'll take this to the table," Kagura said, holding a plate of food in her hands. She had just reached the table when she suddenly felt very weak. "Tohru-kun, I—"

"Kagura-san!" Tohru rushed forward to catch her friend. "Ah!"

"Eh? Another sick person?" said Shigure, putting down his newspaper. He shook his head. "Kagura must have overworked herself taking care of Kyo-kun."

"Don't blame this on me!" Kyo shouted. He had already been wondering if it was his fault that Kagura had fallen ill. To have someone nearly say so aloud was just too much.

Shigure looked surprised for a moment. "No one said it was your fault." Then he lifted a finger in the air as if he had just thought of something. His trademark grin appeared on his face. "Ah, perhaps you feel guilty, Kyo-kun? After all, causing a poor, innocent girl to contract a disease is not the best way to repay her for taking care of you while—"

"Shut up!" Kyo hit Shigure on the head and stalked out of the room.

---

Kyo carried Kagura up to his room, since he had already had the disease, and no one wanted Tohru to get sick by sharing a room with Kagura. He put the unconscious girl in his bed and drew the covers up to her chin. Then he returned downstairs.

Meanwhile, Tohru was rushing around in the kitchen, fixing up a tray of food and water for Kagura's later use. She was just about to take the tray upstairs when she saw Kyo coming down the stairs.

"What are you doing?" asked Kyo.

"I'm taking this to Kagura-san," Tohru said.

"Do you want to get sick too?" Kyo said harshly. "_I'll_ do it," he said more softly. "Don't get too close to that damn Yuki either, or you'll get even sicker than you did last time."

Tohru stared at the orange-haired boy. "Kyo-kun…"

Kyo took the tray from her and went to his room. He put the tray on the table and looked down at the sleeping girl in his bed. Kagura looked oddly frail, and Kyo found himself hoping that she would wake up and act as she always did. He immediately brushed this notion aside, instead thinking, _Why can't she always be like this? She's not annoying when she's unconscious._

_---_

After school, Kyo went directly home, while Tohru went to her part-time job. Upon entering the house, he was accosted by Shigure, who was wearing a suit instead of his usual attire.

"Kyo-kun, I need to go out for a few hours. Yuki's fine by himself, but you'll need to watch Kagura while I'm gone."

"What?!" Kyo tried to protest, but Shigure was already gone.

---

Kyo sat in a chair next to his bed. He had been watching Kagura all afternoon, but she hadn't done anything more than roll over and mutter sleepily to herself. As the hours dragged on, Kyo found himself beginning to doze off. He sat up quickly, though, when he heard loud rustling of the covers. Kagura was trying to get up.

"Kyo-kun, I'm going to—"

The boy immediately grabbed the wastebasket by the door and thrust it in front of Kagura. About two seconds later, sounds of vomiting could be heard. Disgusted by the scene, Kyo began to look away. However, he glanced at Kagura and noticed that her hair was getting in her face. He sighed loudly and used his free hand to gather the girl's hair together and hold it in place behind her head.

When Kagura was done, Kyo let go of her locks.

"Thank you for holding my hair back," Kagura said. "Otherwise it'd be covered in—"

"It's your fault for leaving it down," Kyo retorted quickly. "I just didn't want you to make more of a mess for me to clean up." He crossed his arms and returned to his chair.

Kagura went back to sleep, dreaming of a cute orange neko.

---

The next day, Kagura was still bedridden, but she awoke just as Shigure was about to take a break from watching her.

"Shii-chan." Kagura coughed and sat up. "Where's Kyo-kun?"

Shigure turned around. "He'll be back soon."

"Where is he?"

"He's at school, but he should be home in less than an hour."

Kagura replied drowsily, "I miss him."

"Sleep, Kagura." Shigure smiled and shook his head. It was amazing how much Kagura's thoughts revolved around Kyo. Even when she was sick, the first thing that came to her mind had something to do with the loud, brash boy. Some would call this infatuation, but Shigure knew that much deeper feelings lay behind the girl's devotion to Kyo. These feelings were pure and good, and Shigure often thought that the Sohma family needed more of them.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: Review if you dare.

Replies to:

Luna: I'm glad you wrote those comments, because I was thinking some of those things myself. Actually, the main reason I was concerned about the slowness was that if Kyo and Kagura were to really get together in the series, it would be just as slow as it is here, and we all just want those two to be happy together, don't we?


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